


Down to You

by carolinecrane



Category: Never Cry Werewolf (2008)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon, F/F, Misses Clause Challenge, Werewolves, Yuletide 2012
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-12-14
Updated: 2012-12-14
Packaged: 2017-11-21 02:10:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 12,089
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/592281
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/carolinecrane/pseuds/carolinecrane
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Killing Jared complicated things way more than Loren expected.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Down to You

**Author's Note:**

  * For [escritoireazul](https://archiveofourown.org/users/escritoireazul/gifts).



> With thanks to Jengeorge for the beta.

Killing Jared complicated things more than Loren expected. She wasn't sorry to see him dead or anything; he'd tried to make her his freaky werewolf bride, after all, and then he'd tried to feed her own brother to her. So she was glad he was gone, but once they killed him they were left with a mess on their hands.

There was...well, what was left of his body, for one thing, and then there was the fact that they all needed a shower. She felt bad about not letting Redd and Steven in to clean up, but she had no idea when her mom would be home, and there was no way she could explain the delivery guy and a D-list local celebrity taking turns in her shower.

So she put Redd in charge of dealing with the clean-up, and she sent Steven home with a promise to call him in the morning. She didn't ask what Redd planned to do about the mess they’d made of Jared’s house and yard, but he was…well, sort of a hunter, anyway. If any of them knew how to hide evidence without getting caught, it was him.

Alex wanted to call the cops, but considering what happened the last time the cops came to her house, there was no way Loren was calling them again. Even if they'd wanted to believe her when she told them Jared was up to something, once they found Alex unharmed and the freezer empty, she knew they'd never believe her if she told them she killed her neighbor because he turned out to be a werewolf after all.

They'd barely had time to clean themselves up and change into pajamas before their mom came home, and Loren remembered too late that she'd forgotten to check the messages before she got in the shower. In her defense, she'd been distracted by the memory of werewolf breath on her neck and the look in Jared's eyes when he'd promised to feed Alex to her as her first meal, but she knew that excuse wasn't going to fly with her mom any more than it would with the police.

"Where have you two been?" her mom demanded, anger and worry in her voice. "I called three times."

"Oh, man, Jared…”

That was as far as Alex got before Loren pinched him hard, ignoring his yelp and shoving him in the direction of the door. He scowled at her, but he took the hint and headed out of the kitchen.

"Jared’s dog got out of his yard," Loren said when he was gone. "We helped him look around the neighborhood."

"Oh," their mom said, then she let out a sigh and set her keys on the counter next to her purse. "But you could have called. Do you know how worried I was when I called and you didn't answer?"

"Sorry," Loren said. It was obvious her mom was still freaked out about what happened to Guy and Angie, and there was no way Loren could convince her that there was nothing to worry about anymore, at least not without telling her a lot more of the truth than she was ready for. "It won't happen again, Mom. Promise."

Her mom nodded, and when she wrapped her arms around Loren’s shoulders, Loren didn’t push her away and complain that she wasn’t a baby. Instead she pressed her face against her mom’s shoulder and hugged her back, and when she felt a hand stroking her hair, she blinked back tears.

“Why is your hair wet?” 

“Oh, uh, I took a shower,” Loren said, letting go of her mom and taking a couple steps backwards. “We got kind of gross. Looking for the dog and everything.”

“Did you find him?”

“Who? Oh,” Loren said, wincing and taking another step backwards. “No, there was no sign of him. I guess he’ll turn up eventually.”

“Poor Jared, he must be worried.”

Loren shrugged and backed toward the kitchen door. “I’m pretty tired, I think I’ll just go to bed.”

She escaped from the kitchen before her mom could ask her any more questions, taking the stairs two at a time to shut herself in her bedroom and pretend to sleep.

~

Loren woke to the sound of the house phone ringing, frowning and fumbling for her cell phone to check the time. It was just after 3:00 AM, and Loren’s heart raced as she kicked back her covers and climbed out of bed. She had no idea if they’d left behind some piece of evidence at Jared’s house, if the cops had figured out he was dead or missing or whatever and put two and two together.

She tiptoed down the hall to her mom’s bedroom, stopping just outside the door and holding her breath while she listened to her mom talking to whoever was on the other end of the line.

“Oh my God,” her mom said, and in the soft light from her bedside lamp, Loren saw her press her hand to her mouth. “Are they sure?”

Loren’s heart pounded harder as she imagined the police storming Jared’s house, searching for clues as to what had happened to him. Maybe one of the neighbors heard all the noise they’d made and called the police, or maybe someone had seen Redd cleaning up and gotten suspicious.

“Okay, I’ll be right there,” Loren’s mom said, “Just hang in there.”

She hung up the phone and let out a shaky breath, one hand pressed to her mouth again and the other over her heart.

“Mom?” Loren said, pushing her bedroom door open and taking a step inside. “What’s going on?”

At the sound of Loren’s voice her mother gasped, then she turned to face Loren. “That was Christie, honey. They found Angie.”

“Is she…” Loren asked, and even though she already knew the answer, she couldn’t bring herself to say the words again. She knew Angie was dead; Jared had killed her just like he’d killed Guy, and there was nothing Loren could do to save her, no matter how much she wanted to.

“She’s alive,” Loren’s mom said, crossing the room to wrap her arms around Loren. But there was no way that could be true, because Loren had seen what Jared was, and she knew how mad he must have been that night when Loren helped his first victim get away.

“She’s...what?”

“She’s in pretty bad shape,” her mom said, pulling back to look at Loren. She reached up and smoothed Loren’s hair away from her face, and for a second Loren thought she might start crying. “They’re taking her into surgery now. I need you to stay here with Alex. I’m going to the hospital to be with Christie.”

“Mom, no, I have to see her,” Loren said, but her mother was already shaking her head.

“They won’t let anyone see her until she’s out of surgery, and it could be hours before she’s awake. I know it’s hard, but you should go back to bed and try to get some more sleep. I’ll call you as soon as I know something.”

“Get some sleep? Are you kidding?”

“I know it’s hard,” her mom said. She pulled a sweater on and looked at Loren again, sighing and crossing the room to press her hand to Loren’s cheek. “But there’s no reason for you to sit at the hospital and worry until there’s something to worry about. Just make sure your brother gets to school on time, okay? I promise I’ll call soon.”

She pressed a kiss to Loren’s forehead, then she headed out of the room before Loren could answer. Loren let out a frustrated sigh and glanced at the clock next to her mother’s bed. One thing was for sure; it was going to be a long night.

~

Loren was wide awake when the phone rang at six. She dove across the kitchen to grab it, heart in her throat as she answered. “Mom?”

“Hi, honey,” her mom said. Loren could hear sounds in the background, muffled voices and what sounded like wheels rolling down a hallway. “Angie’s out of surgery and the doctor says she’s going to be okay, so you don’t need to worry.”

“I want to come see her,” Loren said.

“I know you do. I’ll be home soon to pick you up, and then we’ll come back together. Will you make sure your brother gets dressed for school?”

“Yeah, sure. Mom...are you sure she’s okay?”

“That’s what the doctor said,” her mom answered. She let out a sigh on the other end of the line, and Loren could hear how tired she was. “I’ll see you soon.”

Loren hung up the phone and leaned hard against the kitchen counter, blinking back tears at the thought of seeing Angie again. Seeing her alive and just as beautiful as ever, something Loren had convinced herself was impossible. She’d been positive that Jared had killed Angie and Guy, and she’d been trying to accept the fact that she’d never see Angie again. That she’d gotten her best friend killed, and she was going to have to live with that for the rest of her life.

“What’s the matter with you?”

Loren flinched at the sound of Alex’s voice, looking up to find him standing in the kitchen door rubbing sleep out of his eyes.

“Nothing. Mom says get ready for school. She’s going to be home soon.”

“Where’d she go?” Alex asked, crossing to the fridge to grab the milk.

“The hospital. They found Angie last night.”

“Really? I thought Jared...”

“So did I,” Loren interrupted, a fresh shiver running up her spine at the thought of Jared attacking Angie. “Listen, not a word to Mom about Jared, got it? It’s going to be weird enough when someone finally notices he’s missing. I told her we were out helping him look for his dog last night. As far as you’re concerned that’s the last we saw of him, got it?”

“But why...”

“I mean it, Alex. You can’t tell Mom anything. She wouldn’t believe you anyway.”

“Okay, I get it,” Alex said, reaching for the Cheerios. “I won’t say anything.”

“Good. Now hurry up and get ready for school. I want to leave as soon as Mom gets back.”

~

By the time her mom got home almost an hour had passed. Loren was dressed and ready long before Alex, waiting impatiently by the door for her mom to show up. By the time they got back out of the house and into the car it had been nearly another half an hour, and Loren could barely sit still on the drive to school. She watched Alex climb out of the car and wave goodbye, and when her mom pointed the car toward the hospital she let out a deep breath.

“Listen, hon, Angie hasn’t woken up yet,” her mom said. “She might not wake up for a while.”

“She’s not in a coma or anything, is she?”

“No, but she’s been heavily sedated.”

Loren nodded and tried not to drum her fingers on her thigh while she willed her mother to drive faster. It felt like forever before they finally pulled into the visitor parking at the hospital, then another eternity while they waited for the elevator that would take them to Angie’s floor. When they finally reached her room Angie’s mom was there, sitting next to her bed and holding Angie’s hand where it rested on top of the thin hospital blanket.

Angie’s eyes were closed, her hair loose around her shoulders and her lips so pale that for a second Loren wasn’t sure if she was really alive. She could feel her heart beating too fast in her chest, and when her mom put an arm around her shoulders it was all Loren could do not to push her off and rush across the room.

Instead she stayed in the doorway, waiting until Angie’s mom looked up and saw them. When she did she smiled, and Loren could tell she was exhausted, but she looked relieved, too. “She opened her eyes once, but then she went right back to sleep.”

“She’ll wake up soon, Christie,” Loren’s mom said, and she sounded so sure that Loren wanted to believe her. “Why don’t we go get some coffee? Loren will sit with Angie for a while, won’t you, honey?”

“Yeah, sure,” Loren answered. She pulled away from her mom and took a few steps into the room, stopping near the foot of Angie’s bed. From there she could see Angie’s chest rising and falling as she breathed, and the sight made the fear in Loren’s chest uncoil a little.

She waited until her mom and Angie’s mom were gone before she moved closer, fingers curling around the edge of the blanket as she watched Angie sleep. There was a part of her that wanted to sit down and take Angie’s hand the way her mom had, just so Angie would know she was there. But holding hands wasn’t something they did, not since they left middle school behind and Angie started noticing boys.

Loren ignored the weird feeling in her stomach and sat down next to Angie’s bed, hands folded in her lap and watching Angie sleep. Her eyelids fluttered but didn’t open, and after a few minutes Loren let out a breath and leaned a little closer to the bed.

“This is all my fault, Ang. I should have tried harder to stop you. If I hadn’t messed up Jared’s plans that night...”

She trailed off, her stomach turning at the thought of letting Jared kill some other girl so her best friend could live. Then again, if she’d known at the time that she was making the choice, there was no question of who she would have chosen to save. But knowing that now didn’t make her feel any better, and even though Angie had managed to survive somehow, Guy was still dead, and that was still Loren’s fault.

A lock of hair fell across Angie's forehead, gold against pale skin, and Loren reached out to smooth it back before she could stop herself. As soon as Loren touched her Angie's eyelids fluttered, and a second later she was staring back at Loren, blinking in the bright hospital lights and looking younger than usual and really confused.

"Hey," Loren said, her voice catching in her throat. She swallowed hard against the sudden tightness and tried to smile, but she had a feeling it wasn't all that convincing. "How are you feeling?"

"Loren?" Angie said in a hoarse whisper that didn't sound anything like her. "What...?"

Loren reached for the pitcher of water on the table next to Angie’s bed, pouring some into a cup. She helped Angie sit up a little, then held the cup for her while she took a few sips.

“You’re in the hospital,” Loren said when she laid back down again. “Do you remember anything?”

"I don't...I'm really tired," Angie answered, her forehead creased in a frown.

Loren resisted the urge to reach out and smooth away the lines at the top of Angie's nose, to push her hair back from her face and curve her hand around Angie's cheek. 

"It's okay," she said instead, settling back down in the chair. "Just get some more sleep. I'll be here when you wake up again."

~

Loren's mom let her hang around the hospital for the rest of the day. The nurse brought another chair into Angie's room, and Loren sat with her mom and watched her sleep for most of the morning. When she woke up again Angie's mom was there, and when Angie asked about Guy, Loren excused herself and wandered down the hall in search of a soda.

It took awhile to find a vending machine, and when she finally did she couldn't remember which direction she'd come from. She'd been so upset when they first got to the hospital that Loren hadn't paid attention to the direction they'd gone or even Angie's room number. When she left all she'd been thinking about was getting out of there so she wouldn't have to watch Angie crying over Guy, and she knew it was selfish, but she still didn't want to see it.

It wasn't that she was jealous, exactly. Angie and Guy had been on-again and off-again for so long that she was used to tuning out whenever Angie started complaining about him. But it was her fault that Guy was dead, and even if Angie didn't believe that, Loren was going to have to live with it for the rest of her life.

She let out a frustrated sigh and started back down the hall in the direction she'd come, hoping to spot something that looked familiar enough to let her know she was at least headed in the right direction. When she spotted a nurse's station she headed toward it to ask for directions, but before she got close enough for the nurse to see her, she heard voices that made her stop in her tracks.

"It's weird. Same kind of wounds as the girl, but nobody knows what caused them. What I don’t get is how either of them survived."

"I heard it was some kind of animal," another voice said, and Loren held her breath and flattened herself against the wall to listen.

"Yeah, but what kind of animal would take a bite out of a kid and then bolt without finishing them off? You think there's some rabid dog running around the woods or something? A real life Cujo?"

Before the other person could answer a bell of some kind rang, and one of the voices let out a breath. “That’s me. See you later.”

Loren waited until she heard footsteps fading down the corridor before she pushed herself off the wall and approached the nurses’ station. She wanted to ask about the other bite victim, if the person was alive and if they’d been identified. If it was Guy she’d be able to tell Angie what happened to him, but if it wasn’t...

A chill ran down Loren’s spine at the thought, and she considered calling Redd and getting him to go make sure Jared was still dead. Except she’d seen him explode into about a million pieces, and there was no way he could come back from that, was there?

She was still trying to decide whether to go back to Angie's room or call Redd when the nurse spotted her. "Can I help you?"

"Yeah, I'm...uh, I got kind of lost," she said. "I'm looking for Angie Bremlock's room."

The nurse nodded and punched Angie's name into her computer, squinting at the screen for a second or two before she looked up at Loren again. "346. It's down the hall and to the left."

"Thanks," Loren said. Once she was out of sight of the nurse’s station she pulled out her cell phone, dialing the number Redd had given her.

After the first three rings she figured he wasn't going to pick up, but finally the line clicked and she heard muffled cursing on the other end of the line before Redd's groggy voice said, "Hello?"

"It's like 1:00 in the afternoon. Are you seriously just waking up?"

"Hey, I work nights," Redd grumbled. "Who is this?"

"It's Loren. Listen, I'm at the hospital, and I just heard them talking about somebody being brought in with what looks like some kind of animal bite."

"So?"

"So are we sure Jared's gone?" she said, rolling her eyes and glancing over her shoulder to make sure no one was lurking within earshot.

"Are you kidding? Listen, kid, you were there. You saw the same thing I did," Redd answered. "He blew up. I'm pretty sure there's no coming back from that."

"Yeah, well, according to him I was the reincarnation of his dead wife, so maybe 'dead' doesn't mean the same thing when you're a werewolf."

For a second there was silence on the other end of the line, but just when she was about to ask if he was still there, Redd sighed. "Fine. What do you want from me?"

"I don't know. Just...keep your eyes open, I guess. And if you hear anything weird, call me."

"Whatever you say, kid," he said. "Listen, Loren..."

"What?" she said when he paused, glancing over her shoulder again.

"Watch your back."

"Yeah, you too," Loren said. She hung up and headed back to Angie's room, opening the door as quietly as she could and stepping inside. Angie was fast asleep, curled on her side facing the chair where her mom had been sitting all day.

"Hey," Christie whispered when Loren walked in. "You okay?"

Loren nodded and sat down in the extra chair, setting the soda she'd forgotten she was holding on the table next to her. "How long has she been asleep?"

"Not long. Listen, do you mind if I run home and pick up a few things for her? The doctor says maybe she'll be ready to go home tomorrow, and the clothes she was wearing..."

She trailed off and Loren tried not to picture the shredded mess that must have been Angie's clothes. Instead she said, "Of course. I mean, go ahead. I'll stay with her."

"Thanks, hon," Christie said. She stood up, reaching out to smooth Angie's hair back one more time before she headed for the door. "I won't be long."

Loren waited until she heard the door close behind Christie before she stood up, rounding the bed to sit down in the chair Christie had vacated. She looked down at Angie, expecting to find her still sleeping, but when Loren glanced at her Angie's eyes were open.

"Hey. Your mom..."

"I heard," Angie said. She shifted on the thin bed until she was sitting up against the pillows. "Did they tell you what happened to Guy?"

"They found him?" Loren asked, glancing toward the door as though maybe the nurses she'd overheard might appear.

"What was left of him."

Loren felt the blood drain from her face at the news. The nurse had said that there was another survivor, so if Guy was dead, that meant a third person had been attacked. When, Loren had no idea, but if it was after they'd killed Jared, they had a problem on their hands.

"Angie, I know you probably don't want to talk about it, but do you remember anything? It's important."

Angie shook her head, her forehead wrinkling again as she frowned. "Just...we were in my car and we heard a noise, and then...oh, God, it's my fault."

"No, it's not," Loren said, and this time she didn't try to stop herself from reaching out and taking Angie's hand. "It's not, Ang. It's all my fault. I should have stopped you guys."

She shook her head again, red hair flying around her face, but when Loren tried to let go of her hand, Angie held tight and squeezed. “I’m sorry I ditched you for Guy. The truth is I didn’t even like him that much.”

She paused, her fingers twitching against Loren’s hand, but when she looked up she flashed a nervous grin. “That was a terrible thing to say.”

Loren grinned back at her, her first real smile since her mom had told her Angie was alive. “He’d understand.”

“Yeah, maybe.” Angie paused, looking down at their hands for a moment or two, and Loren braced herself for the moment Angie pulled away and things got weird. But instead of letting go of Loren’s hand, Angie’s fingers tightened a little more, then she looked up at Loren again. “I think...I remember the thing that attacked me.”

“Ang, you don’t...”

“No,” Angie interrupted, so Loren bit back the rest of her protest and let her continue. “It was, like, a big dog or something. And afterwards I thought I was going to die, you know? But then I didn’t. It was like I could _feel_ myself healing. Like I was...changing.”

Loren nodded, mainly because she didn't trust her voice. If Jared had attacked Angie but hadn't killed her, that meant she'd been on her way to becoming a werewolf, just like Steven. Which meant that as soon as they killed Jared she'd changed back, exactly the way Steven had, and if she'd died, it still would have been Loren's fault. But she hadn't died; she was here, and she was fine, and there was no way Loren was ever going to let anything happen to her again.

"Remember when I told you I thought there was something weird about Jared?"

"What, you think he had something to do with this?" Angie asked, but Loren could tell by the way she said it that she didn't believe it. 

"I know he did, Ang. I saw him turn into a werewolf. I killed him."

"You what?"

"Well, technically Redd killed him, I guess, but I was there. He was trying to make me his werewolf bride or something. Look, it's a long story," Loren said, pausing to take in the way Angie was looking at her like she'd lost her mind. "But Alex was there, and so was Steven. He almost turned too, just like you did. Jared bit him on purpose."

“Who’s Steven?”

“The delivery guy. And I guess he’s kind of my boyfriend,” Loren answered. “Look, I’ll tell you everything, okay? But your mom’s going to be back soon, and we can’t tell her about any of this.”

“Like she’d believe any of it,” Angie said. She shifted on the bed and let go of Loren’s hand, sitting up a little further against the pillows. “Wait, since when do you have a boyfriend?”

“I don’t. Not really. It’s complicated.” The truth was she hadn’t really thought about Steven since the night they killed Jared; she’d been so caught up in making sure Angie was okay that she hadn’t even called him, and now that she remembered the way he’d kissed her, she wasn’t sure how she felt about it.

Steven was nice and all, and he’d tried to protect her, but she knew she’d never feel about him the way she felt about Angie. She was pretty sure that meant there wasn’t much of a future for them, but she hadn’t gotten around to telling him that yet.

“Complicated how?” Angie demanded, but before Loren could answer, the door opened and a nurse appeared. She took some readings and scribbled a few notes on Angie’s chart, then she injected something into Angie’s IV.

“This will help you sleep,” the nurse said. “You need to rest so you can get better.”

Angie opened her mouth, maybe to argue that she didn’t want to go to sleep again, but before she said so much as ‘no’, her eyes were fluttering closed. When the nurse laughed and shook her head Loren smiled at her, and once she left them alone Loren gave in to the urge to reach out and touch Angie’s cheek.

When Angie sighed and turned toward Loren in her sleep, Loren swallowed against the lump in her throat and pulled her hand away. “I’m not going to let anything else happen to you. I swear.”

~

When Angie’s mom got back Loren made up an excuse about needing to get home, then she headed out of the hospital and straight to the studio where Redd filmed his show. She found his van parked on the side of the building, and when she knocked on the back door it swung open.

“Oh, it’s you,” Redd said. “What now?”

“I was right. There was definitely a third victim,” Loren answered. “Well, fourth, if you count Steven.”

“What are you talking about?” Redd asked, frowning like he really didn’t get it, and Loren was getting kind of tired of being the only person who knew what was happening. 

“Jared attacked my best friend and her boyfriend. Guy’s dead, but Angie survived. She said she felt herself starting to change, just like Steven. Then we killed Jared and she turned human again. But there was a fourth victim, the one they were talking about at the hospital.”

“Are you sure it wasn’t Steven? Maybe when he turned human again he went to the emergency room to get checked out.”

“No, his bite wasn’t that bad,” Loren answered. “I cleaned it for him myself.”

She paused, remembering the way Steven had started to turn in her bathroom, and how he’d shoved her out of the room in the moment before he lost control. “You don’t think Steven...I mean, he was definitely cured, right?”

“How do I know?” Redd asked. “He’s your friend, not mine. Besides, if he’s still a werewolf, wouldn’t your other friend still be one too?”

“I don’t know,” Loren said, but the truth was that he had a point. Angie had been bitten before Steven, so if anyone was too far gone to be saved, it would have been her.

“Look, how do we know this fourth victim wasn’t bitten by Jared too? He could have bitten the kid before he died, right? A little afternoon snack to take the edge off?”

“Don’t be gross,” Loren snapped. “But you’re right, maybe it was Jared.”

“Of course I’m right, kid. Look, go home, get some sleep, try not to think about werewolves for one night, okay? We killed the guy. You’re safe now,” Redd said, clapping a hand on her shoulder and steering her away from the van doors.

He shut them behind him, then pocketed his keys and put on his hat. “I have to get inside so we can shoot. And you should get home before your parents start wondering where you are.”

She didn’t bother correcting him about the number of parents she had. It wasn’t like they were friends; if they were anything, it was more like business partners. Redd wasn’t much of a hunter, but he’d had her back when she needed it, and she knew she could trust him.

Loren left the studio and headed home, wishing more than ever that she had her own car. Thinking about cars just made her think of Angie again, and Loren wondered if she’d woken up yet. She wondered if Angie would ask where she’d gone, if she’d be upset that Loren had left while she was still asleep.

She was halfway home when she felt a tingling sensation at the back of her neck, like someone was watching her. Loren picked up her pace and shoved her hand in her pocket, curling her fingers around her cell phone. She wished she had her crossbow, but it was tucked safely in the back of her closet where hopefully her mom would never find it.

She’d thought about getting Redd to ditch it along with the rest of the evidence, but it was expensive, and besides, she kind of liked it. That didn’t help her right now, though, because she was alone and unarmed and there was definitely someone following her.

Loren turned to look over her shoulder, but all she saw was a car at the end of the block. As soon as she spotted it the car turned onto a side street, leaving her all alone on the street. The feeling didn’t go away, though, and she walked as fast as she could without breaking into a run.

When she turned onto her street she breathed a little easier, but her heart kept racing all the way to her front door. She let herself inside and turned the lock, peering out the window onto the street outside the house. 

There was still no sign of anyone following her, not even the car she’d seen earlier. For a second she wondered if she really was going crazy, or if the whole thing with Jared had made her paranoid. But she knew what she felt, and she was positive someone had been watching her.

Loren sighed and pulled her phone out of her pocket, still peering out the window as she dialed Steven’s number.

“Hello?”

“Where are you?” Loren asked, scanning the street outside the house for a sign of Steven’s delivery van.

“Loren? I’m working. I’ve got another delivery, but I could come by...”

“Were you just following me? On Fordham Road,” she interrupted, letting the curtain fall back into place as she turned away from the door.

“Okay, creepy. No, I’m not stalking you. I kind of thought we were past that.”

Loren rolled her eyes and glanced down the hall to make sure her mother wasn’t listening before she climbed the stairs to her bedroom. She shut the door and crossed to her closet to make sure her crossbow was where she’d left it.

“Look, are you sure you’re okay? You’re not getting any more urges to bite people or anything?”

“What? No,” Steven said, and he sounded a little insulted. Not that she could really blame him, but she had to be sure. “What’s going on?”

“I think there might be another werewolf,” she said. “Just be careful, okay? And if you see anything weird, call me.”

“Yeah, sure. But I could still come over...”

“Listen, Steven, things are just really complicated right now, okay?”

“Okay, but...”

She hung up before he got the rest of the words out, dropping her cell on her bed and glancing toward the telescope still sitting in her window. She felt a little bad for blowing him off, but she couldn’t deal with a sort-of-boyfriend and a werewolf infestation at the same time. Not to mention everything that was going on with Angie; until she knew for sure that Angie was going to be okay, Loren couldn’t focus on anything else.

~

Loren’s mom made her go to school the next day in spite of Loren’s protests that she wouldn’t be able to focus on her classes until she knew whether or not Angie was at home. At lunchtime she finally gave up trying to concentrate and slipped out of the building, then caught a bus to the hospital.

She reached Angie’s room just in time to watch Mrs. Bremlock leave, already dialing her cell as she clicked down the hall to the elevators in her heels. Loren waited until the elevator doors closed behind her before she let herself into Angie’s room, closing the door as quietly as she could behind her.

Angie was curled on her side with her back to the door, so Loren tiptoed across the room in case she was asleep. But when she slid into the chair next to the bed Angie’s eyes were open, and when Loren sat down Angie looked over at her.

“Aren’t you supposed to be in class?”

“It’s just English. Granger never says anything interesting anyway,” Loren said, grinning when Angie laughed. She still looked tired, but there was a little more color in her lips, and when she turned onto her back and sat up she didn’t move as slowly as she had the day before.

“They’re letting me go home tomorrow. It was supposed to be today, but they said I’m still dehydrated or whatever.”

Loren could tell she wasn’t happy about being stuck in the hospital for another night. She didn’t blame Angie for wanting to go home, especially now that she was feeling better. But if there was another wolf running around out there somewhere, Angie was safer where she was, at least until Loren figured out what to do.

“I’ll come by after school,” Loren said. “I can bring you your books.”

She laughed at the face Angie made, reaching out before she could stop herself and pushing a lock of Angie’s hair off her forehead. When Angie reached up and caught her wrist Loren realized what she was doing, but when she tried to pull away Angie held tight.

Her lips parted, and Loren braced herself for Angie to ask her what the hell she thought she was doing, or maybe just to tell Loren that she didn’t think of her that way. Before she got the words out they heard a crash in the hallway, then the sounds of shouting coming from a few doors down.

“Stay here,” Loren said, pulling out of Angie’s grip and crossing to the door. She eased it open just far enough to look out, glancing in the direction the shouting had come from just in time to watch someone storm out of a room followed by a nurse.

The guy was pulling a shirt on, fumbling with the buttons as he strode down the hall, but Loren caught a glimpse of an angry red gash across the center of his chest that looked fresh. He didn't look up when the nurse called after him, but when he drew even with Angie's room he stopped short. Loren swallowed a gasp when he looked at her, eyes narrow as he sniffed the air. "You."

She shut the door and turned the lock, wishing more than ever that she had her crossbow with her.

"Loren, what..."

"Shh," Loren said, inching toward the door again. She took a step forward and pressed her ear to the door, but it was no use. She couldn't hear anything through the heavy wood, couldn't tell if the guy was still out there or if he'd stormed off to wherever he was going. She didn't know why he'd recognized her or if he was a werewolf, but she wasn't taking any chances with Angie right there.

Loren took a deep breath and unlocked the door, bracing herself as she eased it open, just in case the guy tried to take her by surprise. But when she looked out the hallway was empty, and she let out a breath and closed the door again.

"Seriously, what the hell?"

When Loren turned around Angie was sitting up, staring at Loren as though she'd lost her mind. Loren couldn't blame her; she'd seen Jared turn into a werewolf with her own eyes, and she still found herself wondering if she really was as crazy as she sounded sometimes. But she had seen it, and now that she knew what was out there, she wasn't planning to let her guard down.

"I'll tell you everything," she said, crossing back to the bed and sitting down next to Angie. "But you're not going to believe me."

~

By the time Loren went home she’d told Angie the whole story; how she’d tried to convince the cops that Jared was a killer, how he’d taken Alex and tried to turn Steven and how she’d enlisted Redd’s help even though he didn’t actually know what he was doing.

She told Angie about killing Jared, about the way he’d gotten inside her head and how he thought she was the reincarnation of his dead wife. It sounded weird even to her, and she was the one who’d lived through all of it, so she wasn’t surprised that Angie spent most of the conversation staring at her like she’d never seen Loren before.

“So your super hot, older new neighbor – the one with the Harley – hit on you.”

“Angie,” Loren said, “he tried to feed my brother to me as an engagement present.”

Angie made a noise that was sort of a cross between a laugh and a snort, then she clamped her hand over her mouth. “I’m sorry, it’s just...”

“No, it’s okay,” Loren said, smiling at Angie’s expression. “It is kind of funny when I say it out loud.”

Angie smiled, softer this time, and when she reached out her hand Loren took it without thinking. “I’m glad you’re okay. Alex too, even if he is a pain in the ass.”

“Me too,” Loren answered. For a second she looked down at Angie’s hand where it was wrapped around hers, then she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “I thought you were dead.”

“Hey.” The hand wrapped around hers squeezed until Loren looked up, and when she did her heart skipped a beat. Angie’s expression was soft in a way she hadn’t seen in a long time, and Loren found herself leaning forward without thinking. “I’m fine. Or I will be, as soon as they let me out of here.”

Before Loren could answer the door opened, and she tensed at the sound. But it was just Angie’s parents, and when Loren realized how late it must be she let go of Angie’s hand and stood up.

“I should go. My mom’s going to freak out when she finds out I cut class.”

Angie’s mom looked away from Angie long enough to smile at her. “Not that I’m encouraging you to skip school, but thanks for keeping her company.”

“No problem,” Loren said. She stole one last glance at Angie, smirking when Angie rolled her eyes. “See you tomorrow.”

She left Angie’s parents to fuss over her and let herself out of the room, glancing both ways to make sure there was no one hanging around the hallway before she headed for the elevators. 

Loren was a block away from the hospital when she felt it again; the prickling sensation that told her someone was watching her. When she got to the bus stop she looked around as casually as she could, but she couldn’t see whoever was tailing her. There was no one on the street, but both sides of the road were lined with parked cars, and she knew any one of them could be hiding whoever was following her.

She still didn’t know why the guy in the hospital thought he knew her, but she was starting to think it had something to do with whoever had been watching her since the first time she visited Angie.

It had to be Jared; there was no other explanation, no matter what Redd said. They'd all watched him die, but according to Jared she'd already died and come back once too, so maybe he was lurking around again. Maybe he'd taken over the body of someone he'd killed or something; she had no idea if werewolves could do that, but now that she knew they existed in the first place, it didn't seem that unbelievable. 

Loren was still scanning the street when the bus pulled up, and she climbed on and paid her fare before she found an empty seat toward the back. Once they were away from the hospital the prickling feeling on the back of her neck faded, and she let out a deep breath and glanced at her phone to see what time it was. When the bus reached her street she climbed off and hurried down the block, letting herself into the house and heading straight up the stairs to her room. She crossed to the window and swung her telescope toward Jared's house, peering into the dark window that used to be his bedroom. For a few moments all she could see was darkness, but eventually her vision adjusted and she could make out the vague shapes of Jared's furniture in the room. 

The curtains were open, and when one of them twitched she gasped and pulled away from the telescope, squinting in the darkness toward the house. This time the curtain moved aside completely, as though someone was there, watching her watching the house.

Loren's heart raced as she scrambled for her phone, dialing Redd's number and muttering _come on_ under her breath over and over as he waited for him to pick up. Finally the line connected, and before he could say so much as "Hello?", she started talking.

"It's Jared, he's back."

"This again," Redd said, letting out a sigh that told Loren he didn't want to believe her. "That's impossible, kid. We both saw him explode."

"I'm telling you, there's somebody in his house right now. I just saw them."

"That doesn't mean it's him," Redd answered, but she could hear him moving around on the other end of the line. "Maybe some squatter noticed he hasn't been around and decided to move in."

"Seriously?" she said, rolling her eyes and glancing out the window again. "Somebody's been following me, too. Who else would it be besides Jared?"

There was a sigh on the other end of the line, and when Redd finally answered she could tell he wasn’t happy about it. “Fine, we’ll go check out the house. But it’s going to have to wait until the weekend. I’ve got a job, you know.”

Loren didn’t tell him what she thought of his job, mostly because she was pretty sure if she insulted him he’d take back his offer. She could go check out the place by herself, but it was a big house and there was safety in numbers, even if one of those numbers was Redd.

“Do you think it’s safe to wait that long?”

“If whoever it is was in a hurry to do something, they would have done it already, right? Maybe whoever it is has to wait until the full moon. Or maybe it’s not a werewolf at all. Just don’t do anything stupid, okay?”

“Whatever. Just don’t forget about Saturday,” she said, then she hung up her cell phone and dropped it on her bed. When she went back to the window there was no movement in Jared’s house, and she didn’t see the curtains move again before her mom called up the stairs to tell her dinner was ready.

~

Loren managed to make it through the entire school day on Wednesday. She didn’t pay attention in any of her classes, but if any of her teachers noticed she figured they understood why. None of them said anything to her, anyway, and when the last bell finally rang she gathered up her books and Angie’s and headed straight for Angie’s house.

When she got there Angie was in her room, propped up in bed and flipping through the channels on the TV. As soon as she saw Loren she turned it off, and when she saw the stack of books in Loren’s arms she let out a groan and pulled the covers over her head.

“Relax, nobody actually sent home any work,” Loren said, stacking the books on Angie’s desk before she sat down on the edge of her bed. “They’ll probably give you a few more days before they start making you catch up.”

Angie made a noise that told Loren she didn’t think a few more days was much of an improvement, but she lowered the blankets to look at Loren again. Her hair was a mess, wild strands flying around her forehead and laying in all the wrong directions. Loren smiled at the picture she made and reached out, smoothing her hair back down and away from her forehead. 

“Besides, school’s boring without you.”

When Angie grinned Loren felt herself blush, but she didn’t try to take it back. Instead she settled down on the pillow next to Angie, pressing their shoulders together and letting Angie lean against her.

“I saw someone in Jared’s house last night.”

“Who?”

“I don’t know,” Loren answered. “It was dark. But there was definitely someone there. Maybe Jared.”

“You said he was dead. You said you and that weird guy from that lame hunting show killed him.”

Loren grinned at Angie’s description of Redd. Until recently that was exactly how Loren would have described him too, but now that she knew him, he wasn’t so bad. A little pathetic, maybe, but he’d come through when it counted, and she had to give him credit for that.

“Redd’s okay. But he’s not a werewolf expert, or even much of a hunter. Jared believed that his wife came back from the dead, so maybe he can too.”

“That’s crazy. People don’t just come back from the dead. This isn’t some bad horror movie.”

Loren shrugged against Angie’s shoulder, and when Angie settled a little closer, Loren turned into her. “If you’d asked me two weeks ago I would have told you people don’t just turn into werewolves, either.”

Angie frowned, but she knew as well as Loren did that it was true. They’d both seen Jared turn into a werewolf, and Angie had been on her way to becoming one herself when Loren and Redd killed him. It wasn’t that hard to imagine that Jared might have a way to come back, even if it meant he was in a different body now.

“Maybe he had some kind of connection to the people he’d turned before, you know? Maybe when he died he took over one of their bodies.”

“So what are you going to do?” Angie asked, and when Loren looked at her she shook her head. “No. Loren, you can’t go looking for...whoever it is. Call the cops; it’s their job to deal with this stuff.”

“That didn’t really do us much good last time,” Loren said, reaching out and catching Angie’s hand where it was resting on top of her comforter. “Look, I’ll be fine, okay? We handled Jared once, we can do it again.”

“Obviously you didn’t if he’s back. Seriously, how many times do you have to kill somebody before they stay dead?”

“I don’t know,” Loren answered, trying not to let on that she'd wondered the same thing herself, and the thought worried her a little. 

There wasn’t anything on the Internet or in any of the movies about werewolves who came back to life. There hadn’t been anything in there about them exploding, either, and Loren wasn’t really looking forward to going through that again. But she couldn’t just ignore it and hope whoever was lurking around Jared’s house went away; even if it wasn’t Jared, someone was in there and it was only a matter of time before they showed themselves.

“I have to do this, Ang.”

“Why?” Angie asked, shifting on the mattress until she was facing Loren. “Why you? Just because you happen to live next door to the creepiest house in town.”

“It’s not just that,” Loren answered, smiling at the look on Angie’s face. “Like it or not, I did have some kind of weird connection with Jared. When he was alive I could hear his voice in my head, even when he wasn’t around. There must be a reason for that.”

“What, like a werewolf early detection system?”

When Loren laughed Angie’s features relaxed into a smile, and Loren reached out and tucked a strand of auburn hair behind her ear. “I guess.”

Before she could pull her hand away Angie reached up and caught it, pulling it away from her face to rest between them. “Don’t go back there. Just stay here with me.”

“What, forever?”

“Why not?” Angie said. She tightened her grip on Loren’s hand, then she leaned forward and reached up to rest her other hand on Loren’s neck.

Loren’s heart drummed against her rib cage, and she could feel her palm sweating against Angie’s. Then Angie leaned in just a little more, and every thought flew out of Loren's head except _finally_. It was nothing like the way she’d kissed Steven after they killed Jared; that was all relief and adrenaline, but this...this was soft and slow, terrifying but somehow familiar at the same time. 

Because it was _Angie_ , the one person Loren knew best in the world. At least she’d thought she did, but until Angie kissed her, Loren had no idea she could ever have this. She’d thought about it, sure, wished for it and told herself a million times it was never going to happen, because even when Angie and Guy weren’t breaking up and getting back together, there was always some other guy on the horizon.

“Ang, what...” Loren whispered, regretting it as soon as Angie pulled back to shrug.

“I’ve kind of always wondered,” Angie said, and that was news to Loren too. “Is it...I mean, you have too, right?”

Loren nodded, mostly because she didn’t trust her voice, then she leaned in and kissed Angie again. There were a lot of things Loren wanted to say; she wanted to tell Angie that she'd wanted to do this for years, just to see how Angie would react. That the reason she wasn't interested in boys was never because she was too busy with soccer or too uptight about what they got on their pizza.

It was always because of Angie, because Loren didn't need anything or anyone else, not when she already had exactly what she wanted. She'd always thought that wasn't enough for Angie, and she'd told herself over and over that she was just going to have to be okay with it.

Except now Angie was kissing her, soft fingers stroking along her neck and Angie's other hand resting on her thigh. She didn't pull away when Loren slid her hands into Angie's hair, pushing it back away from her face and tilting her head just a little to fit their mouths together. Instead of pushing Loren away and saying she'd changed her mind Angie let out a sigh against her mouth, lips parting and letting Loren in even further.

"You're still going back there, aren't you?" Angie murmured, the words warm against Loren's cheek.

"I have to," Loren answered. “You know that, right?”

Angie rolled her eyes, but she nodded, teeth sinking into her bottom lip. “Doesn’t mean I have to like it.”

"It'll be okay, Ang. I promise," Loren said, and somehow it was easy to believe now that she had Angie to come back to.

~

Thursday was soccer practice, and on Friday she had a game, so Loren didn't get a chance to see Angie again before she and Redd went back to Jared's house. She kept an eye on the place whenever she could, but she hadn't seen any sign of whoever was lurking around there since that first time.

Just because she hadn’t seen them didn’t mean they weren’t there, though, and Loren wasn’t about to take any chances. She got Redd to park his van at the end of the block, out of sight of Jared’s house. Once he was there he called her, and Loren dug her crossbow out of the back of her closet and waited for Redd to circle around to Jared’s back yard before she left her house.

She climbed the stairs to Jared’s front door, careful to avoid the squeaky first step as she approached the door and took a deep breath. When she reached out the door knob gave under her hand, and she raised her crossbow as she pushed it open with one foot.

There were no hellhounds waiting to attack, but Loren knew that didn’t mean the house was empty. There might be a dog in the basement, or maybe Jared himself was lurking around upstairs, just waiting for Loren to let her guard down. She took a deep breath and gripped her crossbow a little tighter, taking a few more steps into the house before she reached into her pocket and dug out her cell phone.

"I'm in," she said when Redd answered. "All clear on the main floor."

"There's nothing in the basement either. Give me a minute and I'll come upstairs," Redd said.

Loren hung up and edged toward the basement door, but when she heard the tell-tale squeak of the loose front step, she spun on her heel to point her crossbow at the door.

"Don't shoot," Alex said, eyes wide and his hands up in a gesture of surrender. "Jesus, what's wrong with you?"

"Alex, what are you doing here?" Loren asked, lowering the crossbow so it wasn't pointing directly at her brother's chest. "Go home."

"You're not the boss of me, for like the millionth time," he answered as he closed the door behind him. "I saw you come over here so I followed you. Figured whatever you were up to, it was probably a bad idea."

Loren rolled her eyes and turned her back on him, glancing toward the basement door as Redd appeared. He looked past her at Alex, and Loren saw his grip on his gun tighten for just a second before Redd recognized him.

"What's the kid doing here?"

"Sticking his nose where it doesn't belong," Loren answered. "But he's probably safer here with us than alone in our house."

"I'm not helpless, you know," Alex said, scowling when Loren glared at him.

"Just stay close and don't do anything stupid."

She led the way up the stairs, crossbow pointed above her and her back to the wall. When she reached the landing she looked both ways, bracing herself for the moment when Jared made his big entrance. But there was no sign of him, and when she crept down the hall to his bedroom it was empty.

Alex followed her into the room, Redd bringing up the rear with his shotgun pointed toward the hallway. Loren crossed to the window that faced her house and pulled the curtain back just a little, looking over at her own bedroom window. She half expected to find someone watching her from her room, but all she saw was an empty window and the outline of her telescope.

"Looks like somebody's been here recently."

Loren looked away from the window to find Redd holding up a piece of what looked like plastic, and when she got closer she recognized it for what it was: a hospital I.D. bracelet. She'd seen the same one on Angie before they let her go home, and the guy who'd recognized Loren in the hospital must have had one too.

"Can you read the name?"

"Looks like Mark...something. I can’t read the last name; it looks like it’s been...chewed off.”

Before Loren could answer a door opened somewhere downstairs, and the three of them froze in place. She lifted a hand to her mouth and pressed a finger to her lips, watching first Redd and then Alex nod before she signaled to them to back away from the center of the room.

They moved as quietly as possible, pressing themselves against the wall as they listened to whoever was in the house climbing the stairs. Loren could feel her heart pounding against her chest, and she wondered if having werewolf senses meant Jared would be able to hear it.

She held her breath while she listened to the footsteps coming down the hall, her arms taut as she aimed her crossbow at the bedroom door. Time slowed down until all she could hear was her own heartbeat and the steady click of shoes against the wood floor, and when the bedroom door swung open she held her finger against the trigger of the crossbow and braced herself to kill Jared all over again.

Except the guy who walked through the door didn't look like Jared, and when he spotted Loren standing in front of him with a crossbow aimed at his chest, his hands went up in surrender. "Holy shit."

"What the hell are you doing here?" Loren asked, but she didn't lower her weapon.

"You know this guy?" Redd said, easing away from the wall and lowering his gun.

"He was at the hospital the other day," Loren answered, her finger tensing on the crossbow's trigger. "Who are you and why have you been following me?"

"I haven't been following you," the guy said, but he was still staring at the crossbow like he was expecting Loren to use it. "The last time I saw you was at the hospital."

“Bullshit. I saw you.”

“Look, I don’t know who you saw, but it wasn’t me.”

“You’re lying,” Loren said. “Redd, we need some rope.”

“Rope? What for?” Redd asked, but before Loren could so much as roll her eyes, Alex was moving toward the door.

“I know where there’s some.”

“Alex, wait,” Loren called after him, but he was already headed for the stairs. She listened to him cross the foyer and pull open the basement door, then she glanced at Redd. “Move that chair over here. We’re going to tie him up and make him tell us what he’s doing here.”

“Tie him up?” Redd said, and Loren didn’t have to look to know he was staring at her like she’d lost her mind. “Isn’t that kidnapping? Look, kid, I get that you’ve been through a lot, but just because somebody’s squatting in your neighbor’s house doesn’t mean he’s a...”

“A what?” the guy asked when Redd paused, and when his mouth curved into a slow smile, a chill ran down Loren’s spine. 

“A werewolf,” Loren answered. “Not yet, anyway. But you will be at the next full moon.”

She wasn’t sure how she knew. She’d had a feeling in the hospital when he seemed to recognize her, but until he smiled she wasn’t positive. Until she saw the same expression on his face that she’d seen on Jared’s when they first met, the slow smile and the hint of recognition.

"You got me," he said, grinning even wider now. "Though I guess if anybody could tell a werewolf when you see one, it would be you."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Loren asked, her crossbow still aimed squarely at the center of his chest. 

Before he could answer Alex appeared in the doorway, cheeks red and a length of rope in one hand. "Found it."

"Good," Loren said. She gestured toward Redd with her crossbow and he dragged a chair to the center of the room, then he forced the werewolf to sit. "Make sure he can't get loose."

"We're taking a hostage? Cool," Alex said.

Loren rolled her eyes, but she kept the crossbow pointed at him while she waited for Redd to finish securing him to the chair. When he was satisfied the werewolf wasn't going to escape he stepped back, and Loren finally lowered the crossbow. "Okay, start talking."

"I know all about you, Melissa," he said, drawing out the name as though it was supposed to come as some kind of shock. 

"My name's not Melissa," Loren said through gritted teeth. She was tempted to shoot him right then, but she knew they needed answers, and so far he was their best bet to get them. 

“Yeah, but you’re her, no matter what you’re calling yourself. Everybody knows the story."

"What story?" Alex asked.

The werewolf smirked again, gaze still fixed on Loren as he answered. "You mean she hasn't told you what she's gotten you into? Your friend here was married to one of the most powerful werewolves in history. Their bond was so strong not even death could keep them apart, and Melissa was reborn as...what'd you say your name was?"

"I didn't," Loren answered, raising the crossbow to point it at his chest again. "And I'm not interested in some dumb love story. What I want to know is who bit you."

“I think your friends here are interested, though. They should be, anyway, considering you’re practically werewolf catnip. Why do you think there’s another werewolf in town already? He never would have set foot in Jared’s territory while he was still alive, but lucky for me, as soon as you dusted your ex, someone else took over his turf.”

“Where do we find him?”

“Wait a second,” Redd interrupted, and Loren dragged her gaze away from their hostage long enough to look at him. “Look, I said I’d check out this place with you, but if you want to go werewolf hunting, you’re on your own.”

“Seriously? This is the most interesting thing that’s ever happened to you,” Loren answered. “You’re really just going to walk away knowing what’s out there?”

“Hey, I’m not the one with a werewolf-shaped target on his back,” Redd said. “I didn’t sign on for this.”

“Fine, go then. But leave the gun. I might need it.”

“What are you going to do?” Redd asked, eyeing Loren, then their prisoner.

She shrugged and cocked the crossbow, finger pressing down on the trigger just enough to make him squirm. “If we let him go he’s just going to become one of them, then we’ll have to kill him anyway.”

“Not if we kill whoever bit him,” Redd said, taking a step forward. “That’s the way it works, right? As long as we kill this new werewolf before the next full moon, this one goes back to being completely human.”

“It doesn’t matter,” the werewolf said. “They’ll keep coming, and I’ll just get another one to bite me. You can’t kill them all.”

“Watch me,” Loren snapped, the crossbow pointed right at the center of his forehead now.

She wasn’t anywhere near as confident as she sounded; the truth was that killing Jared had been kind of a fluke, and if there really was something about her that attracted werewolves, she was going to have to get a lot better at hunting in a hurry. But the alternative was to give up and let them come for her, and there was no way she was going down without a fight.

“Kid,” Redd said, stepping in between Loren and the guy in the chair and lowering his voice, “you can’t kill him. He’s still a human.”

Loren sighed, then she glanced over at Alex where he was still pressed against the wall near the door. “Fine. Let him go, but follow him, and stay close. Maybe he’ll lead us to the werewolf who bit him.”

“And if he doesn’t?”

“Then he’s got until the next full moon, and he won’t be human anymore.”

Redd looked like he wanted to argue, but finally he just nodded. “You’re the one they’re after, so I guess you’re in charge.”

He turned away from her to deal with their prisoner, and Loren slid the arrow out of her crossbow and put it back in the sheath. When Redd and the werewolf were gone she turned to Alex, raising an eyebrow at him. 

“You can’t keep following us like this.”

“What? I didn’t get in the way or anything,” he protested.

“This time,” Loren said. “Look, Alex, if anything happens to you Mom’s going to kick my ass.”

“So I guess you’ll have to watch my back, then,” Alex answered, and when he grinned she shook her head and tried not to laugh.

“Come on,” she said, sliding her free arm around his shoulders and messing up his hair. “Let’s go home before Mom notices we’re gone again.”

~

Loren texted Angie when she got home, just to let her know everything was fine. It was too late to see her, but almost as soon as she sent the text, Loren got an answer.

_Come over tomorrow._

She woke up a lot earlier than she normally would on a Sunday, then she spent the morning staring at the clock and trying not to fidget until it was late enough that she could reasonably show up on Angie’s doorstep. 

As soon as she thought she could get away with it Loren grabbed her bag of DVDs -- the werewolf movies she hadn’t returned to the video store yet, and _Bend It Like Beckham_ for when Angie got tired of werewolves -- and headed out the door.

When she got there Angie’s mom let her in, and Loren smiled and let Mrs. Bremlock thank her again before she escaped up the stairs to Angie’s room. She knocked before she let herself in, pushing the door open and peering around it to find Angie propped up in bed with a stack of fashion magazines and the remnants of the toast her mom had made her for breakfast.

“Hey,” Loren said, holding up her bag, “I brought movies and peanut butter M&Ms.”

“Thank God,” Angie said, shoving the magazines and the toast out of the way. “My mom’s barely let me eat anything but chicken soup since I came home. She thinks it’s going to magically cure me or something. Of what, I have no idea, considering there’s nothing wrong with me.”

As she spoke Angie pushed up onto her knees and reached for Loren’s bag, dropping it on the end of the bed before she grabbed Loren’s hand and pulled her down onto the mattress. For a few seconds Angie just looked her over, like maybe she was expecting Loren to have bruises or injuries from her trip to Jared’s house.

“You’re really okay?”

“Yeah, Ang, I told you, I’m fine,” Loren answered. She smiled as she said it, leaning forward to curve a hand around Angie’s cheek. 

“Good,” Angie said, her fingers curling around the front of Loren’s shirt to pull her closer. “So you’re done with all that werewolf stuff, right?”

Loren bit back a sigh and glanced toward her bag. “Not exactly.”

“Not exactly? What the hell does that mean?”

"There are more of them out there, Ang. I can't just ignore it and hope they go away."

“Why not? This isn’t your problem, Loren. It’s not like you invited them here or something.”

She had no idea if it would make Angie feel better or worse to know that technically, it _was_ kind of Loren’s fault their town had suddenly turned into werewolf central. Even if she hadn’t done anything to cause it, they kept coming because she was there, and that meant she had to do something about it.

Instead of answering pressed her forehead to Angie’s, hand curving around Angie’s neck to press against warm skin. When Angie tilted her face up a little Loren took the hint and pressed their lips together, eyes fluttering closed and sighing against Angie’s mouth.

“You brought a bunch of werewolf movies, didn’t you?” Angie asked, murmuring the words against Loren’s mouth.

“They’re not all werewolf movies. I just figured some more research couldn’t hurt.”

Angie sighed, but she let Loren pull away and reach into her bag for the DVDs. She handed over the bag of M&Ms and a couple Cokes before she crossed the room to the DVD player and put in the first movie. Once it started she settled against the headboard next to Angie, shoulders pressed together and one of Angie’s legs swung over Loren’s.

“I can’t believe I’m watching bad werewolf movies for you,” Angie said, but she let her head rest on Loren’s shoulder as the opening credits rolled.

Loren laughed, turning just far enough to catch a glimpse of Angie’s profile. “You said at the hospital that you didn’t really like Guy all that much.”

“He was okay,” Angie said, shrugging against Loren’s arm. “I mean, he was nice enough, but I wasn’t in love with him or anything.”

“So why were you with him?” Loren asked, the movie forgotten as she turned toward Angie. “I mean, if you didn’t really like him that way, why bother?”

Angie shrugged again, then she sat up a little further and let out a heavy sigh. “Mostly because it was easier.”

She didn’t say it out loud, but Loren had a feeling she knew what Angie meant. It wasn’t like Loren had ever told Angie how she felt either, so she couldn’t blame her. Still, it was hard to think about all the time they’d wasted, and she wondered what would have happened if Guy had survived too.

As soon as she thought it Loren felt like the worst person in the world, so she pushed the thought away and reached for Angie’s hand. “Did you think I would mind?”

“No,” Angie said, letting out a little laugh that made Loren’s heart jump. “I knew how you felt. I guess I just wasn’t ready for things to change. Then that thing attacked me and I woke up in the hospital, and it seemed kind of stupid to keep pretending.”

“We don’t have to watch werewolf movies,” Loren said, glancing toward the screen where the movie was still playing forgotten in the background. “I didn’t even think...”

“No, it’s okay,” Angie interrupted. She tugged until Loren was leaning against the headboard again, then she pressed herself against Loren and put her head back on Loren’s shoulder. “But I’m hiding my face in your shirt during the scary parts, just so you know.”

Loren smiled and slid her arm around Angie’s shoulders to drag her a little closer. “I can live with that.”


End file.
